United States House Committee on Rules

Jurisdiction

The 'regular' process to pass a bill in the house is complicated and prone to delays and obstruction by the minority. Because of this, in practice, bills (other than those that are uncontroversial) are almost always debated under a so-called 'special rule' reported by the Rules Committee. This rule usually restricts the lengths of debate and number and type of amendments allowed (if any).

Special rules

When a bill is reported out of another committee with legislative jurisdiction, it is placed on the appropriate House Calendar for debate. Common practice, though, is for bills reported from committees to be considered in the Rules Committee, which then passes a so-called "special rule" (a resolution allowing for consideration of a bill, establishing how long and under what rules the full body will debate the proposition). A "special rule" resolution (also known simply as a "rule") is privileged under the Standing Rules of the House, meaning it is immediately subject to a debate and a vote by the full House upon being reported by the Rules Committee. If a "special rule" resolution providing for consideration of a bill is passed, then such bill must be considered by the House at such a time and under such limitations as the resolution has set. In practice, a bill can get to a floor vote only if a "special rule" resolution providing for its consideration is passed (unless the Speaker grants a vote on suspension of the rules, which requires two-thirds of votes cast in order to pass).

Consideration by the full body can occur in one of two forums: the Committee of the Whole, or on the floor of the full House of Representatives itself. Different traditions govern whether the Committee of the Whole or the House itself will debate a given resolution, and the Rules Committee generally sets the forum under which a proposition will be debated and the amendment/time limitations for every measure, too. For instance, there might be a limit on the number or types of amendments (proposed changes to the bill). Amendments might only be allowed to specific sections of the bill, or no amendments might be allowed at all. Besides control over amendments, the rule issued by the Rules Committee also determines the amount of speaking time assigned on each bill or resolution. If the leadership wants a bill pushed forward quietly, for instance, there might be no debate time scheduled; if they want attention, they might allow time for lengthy speeches in support of the bill.

Between control over amendments, debate, and when measures will be considered, the Rules Committee exerts vast power in the House. As such, the majority party will usually be very keen on controlling it tightly. While most House committees maintain membership in a rough proportion to the full chamber (if the majority party controls 55% of the House, it will tend to have 55% of committee seats), membership on the Rules Committee is disproportionately in favor of the majority party. Furthermore, the rules committee typically operates in a very partisan fashion, advancing "special rule" resolutions to the floor on straight party line votes in nearly all cases.

History

The Rules Committee was formed on April 2, 1789, during the first Congress. However, it had nowhere near the powerful role it has today. Instead, it merely proposed general rules for the House to follow when debating bills (rather than passing a special rule for each bill), and was dissolved after proposing these general rules. These general rules still have a great impact on the tone of the House floor today.

The Rules Committee, for a long time, lay dormant. For the first fifty years of its existence, it accomplished little beyond simply reaffirming these rules, and its role was very noncontroversial. On June 16, 1841, it made a major policy change, reducing from to the fraction of votes needed in the House to close debate and vote on a bill.

In 1880, the modern Rules Committee began to emerge from the reorganization of the House Committees. When the Republican Party took over the House in the election of 1880, they quickly realized the power that the Rules Committee possessed. One member, Thomas Brackett Reed (R-Maine), used a seat on the Rules Committee to vault himself to the Speakership, and gained so much power that he was referred to as "Czar Reed".

In the 1890s and 1900s, Reed and his successor, Joseph Gurney Cannon (R-Illinois) used the Rules Committee to centralize the power of the Speakership. Although their power to place members in committees and perform other functions was limited by a forced rule change in 1910, the Rules Committee retained its power. However, it ceased to function as the personal project of the Speaker, as it had originally; instead, as the seniority system took root, it was captured by a coalition of conservative Democrats and Republicans. This state of affairs would continue until the 1960s.

In 1961, Speaker Sam Rayburn (D-Texas), acting on the wishes of the new President John F. Kennedy and the Democratic Study Group, introduced a bill to enlarge the committee from 12 members to 15, to decrease the power of the arch-conservative chair, Howard W. Smith (D-Virginia). The bill passed, 217 votes to 212. However, it was only partially successful; the Rules Committee continued to block legislation including civil rights and education bills.

By 1975, however, the Rules Committee was firmly under the command of the Speaker once again. Under Tip O'Neill (D-Mass.), the Speaker was given authority under House Democratic Caucus rules to appoint all Rules Committee Democrats subject to caucus ratification, and in 1989 the Republican Conference did the same. As before, its primary role is to come up with special rules, to help or obstruct the chances of legislation reported to it.

General types of rules

The Rules Committee issues the following types of "special rule" resolutions:

• Open rule: Allows any member to offer any amendment in compliance with house rules under the five minute rule (a member argues for the amendment for 5 minutes, an opponent then argues against the amendment for 5 minutes, other members may then "strike the last word" to speak further on the Amendment, and the house then votes on the amendment). Debate continues until no one offers an amendment. This type of Rule has not been used since June 10, 2014.
• Modified open rule: Much like an open rule, but may require amendments to be preprinted in the congressional record beforehand, and may impose a total time limit for the consideration of all amendments, or for debate on each amendment.
• Structured rule – Members submit amendments to the rules committee, and the rules committee selects which amendments may be considered on the floor.
• Closed rule – Eliminates the opportunity to amend the bill on the floor, except under unanimous consent.

Most "special rule" resolutions offer time for "general debate" before any amendment consideration begins (it is also possible for the rules committee to issue a rule for "general debate" only and later issue a second rule for amendment consideration) and allow for one motion to send the bill back to its committee of origination, with or without instructions for how to modify the bill. Such resolutions may also include necessary authority for district work periods, and may waive or modify certain points of order or rules of the house if desired by the committee, and the committee is also allowed to self-execute amendments right in the rule rather than delegating this ability to the full house floor.

Members, 119th Congress

Resolutions electing members: (R), (D)

Subcommittees

The Rules Committee operates with two subcommittees, one focusing on legislative and budget matters and one focusing on the internal operations of the House.

Source: Full membership

Leadership, 1849–1853 and 1880–present

The Committee on Rules was created as a select committee but became a standing committee for the 31st and 32nd Congresses (1849–1853). In 1853, the panel reverted to being a select committee and remained one until 1880.

From 1880 to the revolt against Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon in March 1910, the Speaker of the House also served as chair of the Rules Committee.

Beginning in 1999 with Republican David Dreier of California, the chair of the Rules Committee became a member of the elected Republican leadership, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Howard W. Smith of Virginia is the longest-serving chair (1955–1967) since the committee's founding. David Dreier of California is the youngest chair of the Rules Committee, assuming the position at the age of 46. He is also the longest-serving chair (1999–2007, 2011–2013) since 1967. Louise Slaughter of New York is the first woman to chair the committee (2007–2011).

Historical members and subcommittees

114th Congress

Sources: (Chairs), (D), (R) and (D).

115th Congress

Sources: (R), (D), (D)

116th Congress

Sources: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (D), (R), (D), (D), (D)

117th Congress

Sources: (D), (R), (R), (D), https://rules.house.gov/press-releases/chairman-mcgovern-announces-new-vice-chair-subcommittee-chairmanship-and-assignments

;Subcommittees

118th Congress

Resolutions electing members: (Chair), (Ranking Member), (R), (D), (R)

;Subcommittees

References

References

1. "Committee on Rules". U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Rules.
2. House Rules Committee. (2 January 1999). "Survey of Activities of the House Committee on Rules, 105th Congress". Government Publishing Office.
3. (19 December 2013). "About the Committee on Rules – History and Processes".
4. (16 April 2018). "Rule Information".
5. ''A Pre-Twentieth Century look at the House Committee on Rules'', by Walter J. Olezek (House of Representatives, Rules Committee Democrats website; accessed January 16, 2011)
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